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Norwich University Record!
Entered as second class matter, June 17, 1909, at the Post Office at Northfield, Vt. under the act of July 16, 1894.
New Series, Vol. IV, No 42, Whole No 202 March 6, 1913
Issued Weekly by Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont.
The interest expressed in the following article published in the Army and Navy Journal of February 8 suggests that there may be some of the Norwich men who would find interest therein as well, there-fore its publication.
Peace President on War Readiness.
When a few weeks ago a bill passed the lower branch of the Vermont Legisla-ture authorizing the appropriation of $25,000 for armories, a certain clergyman of that state, a very good man, but like many other good men unfamiliar with the military history of our country, wrote to President Charles H. Spooner of Nor-wich University, and after saying armo-ries are only for playing soldier called at-tention to the state's backwardness in edu-cation and closed with this appeal "Your name appears as one of the active vice-presidents of the Vermont Peace Society. I am therefore writing you to ask that you do all in your power to pre-vent out state from making so serious a mistake as it is likely to make unless our right-minded citizens enter their vigorous protest. Does it not behoove the friends of peace to do everything with-in their power to prevent the appropria-tions for armories?"
To this request President Spooner res-ponded with a letter which is so admir-able that it would do vast service in edu-cating the public mind if it were reprinted as a tract and circulated by the thou-sand by some responsible society Nor-wich University is the military college of Vermont. After referring to the fact that he was the most active man in the founding of the Vermont Peace Society, thus not seeking to evade his connection with that organization, Dr Spooner said: "All the evils that have followed our Civil War, and still do follow, are as nothing when compared with the evils that would have existed without a set-tlement of the difficulties and without an eradication of the evils that caused that war. It is absolutely true that had enough been spent upon our Military Establishment to make it an effective force in 1860—only a moiety of the cost
of the war—there would have been no war and, it is proper to add, the evil causes would have remained for a pos-sible later eradication by other means. In the absence of that later possibility we believe, and rightly that to humanity the results of that war were worth all it cost and much more. It still remains that the cost was and is far greater than necessary if proper expenditures had been made before the fact instead of during and after it. Insurance of life and of property by preventing the loss thereof is worth all the 'premiums' expended in that prevention.
"This proposed building of armories is one of the measures for prevention of loss, as wise and as necessary as fireproof construction in buildings, as precau-tions against contracting tuberculosis or as the other measures for the preserva-tion of health. You and I teach, and we think we believe, that the day will come when in any specific case the human powers working for righteousness will exactly agree as to what is truth and rignteousness. That time is not yet, but we may not neglect the lessons of our history, or fail to take all such physical precautions as tend to prevent the cata-clysms of ruin and destruction which war brings upon a people. I believe there is not an instance in our history pointing to the bringing on of war by our Military Establishment. But we have only to run the files of history and of our diplomatic and other similar re-cords to learn that the existence of such establishment, meagre as it has been, has more than once saved us from war
"It is not 'playing soldier' that these Militiamen are called to, but real labor, real study and real training by exercise for the highest purpose that man social is ever called upon to pursue. However much individuals of these organizations seem to ignore this, however much they make opportunity for sport or folly through the organizations, it must be borne in mirid that members of most or-ganizations are subject to the same weak-nesses, even students and teachers in schools, and alas! even some members of churches.

Norwich University Record!
Entered as second class matter, June 17, 1909, at the Post Office at Northfield, Vt. under the act of July 16, 1894.
New Series, Vol. IV, No 42, Whole No 202 March 6, 1913
Issued Weekly by Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont.
The interest expressed in the following article published in the Army and Navy Journal of February 8 suggests that there may be some of the Norwich men who would find interest therein as well, there-fore its publication.
Peace President on War Readiness.
When a few weeks ago a bill passed the lower branch of the Vermont Legisla-ture authorizing the appropriation of $25,000 for armories, a certain clergyman of that state, a very good man, but like many other good men unfamiliar with the military history of our country, wrote to President Charles H. Spooner of Nor-wich University, and after saying armo-ries are only for playing soldier called at-tention to the state's backwardness in edu-cation and closed with this appeal "Your name appears as one of the active vice-presidents of the Vermont Peace Society. I am therefore writing you to ask that you do all in your power to pre-vent out state from making so serious a mistake as it is likely to make unless our right-minded citizens enter their vigorous protest. Does it not behoove the friends of peace to do everything with-in their power to prevent the appropria-tions for armories?"
To this request President Spooner res-ponded with a letter which is so admir-able that it would do vast service in edu-cating the public mind if it were reprinted as a tract and circulated by the thou-sand by some responsible society Nor-wich University is the military college of Vermont. After referring to the fact that he was the most active man in the founding of the Vermont Peace Society, thus not seeking to evade his connection with that organization, Dr Spooner said: "All the evils that have followed our Civil War, and still do follow, are as nothing when compared with the evils that would have existed without a set-tlement of the difficulties and without an eradication of the evils that caused that war. It is absolutely true that had enough been spent upon our Military Establishment to make it an effective force in 1860—only a moiety of the cost
of the war—there would have been no war and, it is proper to add, the evil causes would have remained for a pos-sible later eradication by other means. In the absence of that later possibility we believe, and rightly that to humanity the results of that war were worth all it cost and much more. It still remains that the cost was and is far greater than necessary if proper expenditures had been made before the fact instead of during and after it. Insurance of life and of property by preventing the loss thereof is worth all the 'premiums' expended in that prevention.
"This proposed building of armories is one of the measures for prevention of loss, as wise and as necessary as fireproof construction in buildings, as precau-tions against contracting tuberculosis or as the other measures for the preserva-tion of health. You and I teach, and we think we believe, that the day will come when in any specific case the human powers working for righteousness will exactly agree as to what is truth and rignteousness. That time is not yet, but we may not neglect the lessons of our history, or fail to take all such physical precautions as tend to prevent the cata-clysms of ruin and destruction which war brings upon a people. I believe there is not an instance in our history pointing to the bringing on of war by our Military Establishment. But we have only to run the files of history and of our diplomatic and other similar re-cords to learn that the existence of such establishment, meagre as it has been, has more than once saved us from war
"It is not 'playing soldier' that these Militiamen are called to, but real labor, real study and real training by exercise for the highest purpose that man social is ever called upon to pursue. However much individuals of these organizations seem to ignore this, however much they make opportunity for sport or folly through the organizations, it must be borne in mirid that members of most or-ganizations are subject to the same weak-nesses, even students and teachers in schools, and alas! even some members of churches.